Public Libraries

Statistics are collected from more than 9,000 public libraries. Data are available for individual public libraries and are also aggregated to state and national levels.

A public library is established under state enabling laws or regulations to serve a community, district, or region, and provides at least the following:

1. an organized collection of printed or other library materials, or a combination thereof;
2. paid staff;
3. an established schedule in which services of the staff are available to the public;
4. the facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule, and
5. is supported in whole or in part with public funds.

There may be only one public library in a community or there may be a public library system. Just as a school system has elementary and secondary schools, a public library that administers a branch, a bookmobile, a central library, and/ or a books-by-mail service is called a public library system.

A central library may be the one public library in a community or it may be the library which is the operational center of a public library system. Usually all processing is centralized here and the principal collections are housed here. A central library is synonymous with a main library. A public library system does not have more than one central library.

A branch library is a library within a library system which has at least all of the following:

1. separate quarters;
2. an organized collection of library materials;
3. paid staff; and
4. regularly scheduled hours for being open to the public.

A bookmobile is a traveling branch library. It consists of at least all of the following:

1. a truck or van that carries an organized collection of library materials;
2. paid staff; and
3. regularly scheduled hours (bookmobile stops) for being open to the public.

Books-by-Mail is a direct mail order service which provides books and other library materials. Books-by-mail typically serves rural residents, the disabled, the homebound, and others without access to a public library. Requests for materials are usually received by mail and by telephone only.

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